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Lighting Design Dilemma living room

Art Lighting Advice

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hi all, in less than a week my condo will be gutted for a renovation. Cement walls and ceiling. Next week is my only opportunity for digging into the cement and making changes with lighting and electrical while the floors are torn out.

Finalizing the lighting plan and trying to decide on best locations for the recessed art lights. I have to work with the hollow areas in the ceiling so my options are limited.

I know it is best is when you can create a 30 degree angle from the light to the center of the art. Unfortunately I don’t have that "best" option with the two very large pieces of art in my living room.

I’m commissioning two pieces of art from my favorite local artist… For the one that will be approximately 58” x 58” -- ideal is 24-25" from the wall, but my only good option is having the light 33” from the wall. Since that piece is so high/wide, and I’m using only 1 light, it will probably be okay and still need a beam spread of about 50 degrees.

The other one is over 7 feet wide and will be between 33" and 42” high. It is taped out here 10” above top of sofa, and at 42” high… the mini splits will go away (any opinions on that size welcome too… I wonder if less high , more narrow, more white space above would be more interesting). I will install two lights – ideal distance from wall is 24-25, but my options are 21.5” from the wall or 33.5” from the wall.

I understand that if the lights are too close, they can cast a shadow and if they are too far they can cause glare. This will be acrylic on canvas (maybe 1" deep?) with no additional frame, no glass.

Last question -- if you want to highlight very tall vertical piece of art – something 85 inches high by only 15 or 30 inches wide…I'm having some sliding doors made that an artist will paint and these are the sizes they will be when opened left and right and sit along the wall -- is the best way to do that with a light very close to the wall to keep the spread focused and more of a graze downward? Will this work or would it be better to skip that idea entirely?

Pics below. Thank you in advance for your insights!

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Comments (8)

PRO
Flo Mangan
4 years ago
Art over sofa only should be between 4-6” above back of sofa. You might have other floor lamp options for lighting as well. So make sure you get plenty of wall plugs.
PRO
Flo Mangan
4 years ago
From West Elm. And I believe you could aim one light toward art. Also a few other options.
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If I can find the right colors, will have to be a print as it will be in the newly painted spare bathroom, so no oils. I wish I could remember the name of the artist whose work is similar that was posted here, as it appeard many people were familiar with the his or her work.
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great advice upthread I'll try to be short, probably repeating several people: -get rid of the white console next to the fireplace/look for smth else instead if you need it there for function -think of other window treatments. curtains? woven blinds? roman shades? any of these will look better. move your sectional a bit from the wall, both to allow room for window treatments and because furniture generally needs at least couple inches to breathe..that wil also make room seem larger -you already purchased the ottoman in the same color and style of the sofa..off white, right? well something different would be better, but it's okay..buy a throw, fold it and put there to break your lines a bit. tray is great too-both for function and beauty. you'll appreciate it when watching this TV -I liked reading how your wife gets her art:) okay..so if there's no real room for other suggestions(I'm also prejudiced against mass produced canvas art..maybe she can be talked into a print instead?..)..put that art there first. Make sure it fits-seems huge?.. Say you go for that a very similar art, you have there-a bit of white, black, brown, indigo blue, fiery yellow white and brown you already have in your room (btw like your furniture) pull your other colors (in pillows and throws and accessories) from that art -deep sophisticated blues, golds. can be metallic accessories (like vases or flower pots?), can be softest fur pillows can be velvet, can be knitted throw. everythhing you buy-make sure it's a different texture..leather is sleek you've got enough of it. Speaking from experience-I also have my fair share of leather:) then look for a big ticket items like curtains and a rug. (or simultaneously..just keep your general scheme in mind). you can decide to make them fairly neutral. repeat the color of the furniture, just different material of course. or go for one vivid deep color but make it a shag rag for example. Don't try to match pattern to art..art has a mind of its own. Look at the room as a whole..what does it ask for? and know yourself of course..say I love many rugs but I don't like to clean them lol. You know whether it's high traffic area, what your habits are, and whether you'll be sad for 5 min if the rug will have spots and then get over it, or will be sad for 5 days. when you buy a side table try, again, to introduce another texture, just different material in this case. maybe wood. maybe ceramics(garden stool?some of these look really modern). every new material you bring creates dimension. Dimension is something you look for when creating spaces. Why? well that what we've used to. Ouside always has it. Even when it's a desert or an ocean. It has depth. we need to recreate it with all sort of ways and means that are availiable to us.. Good luck! will be a cool room edited because of thousand typos..))
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Personally, I like the LED Strip lights. They provide great light and they can be placed and set up in any way that you would like. They also have a nice/trendy look to them when placed in a clear tube. There are also different types of LED strip lights where you can actually change the color of them. It is actually a positive thing that you have so much space; this leaves you with a lot of opportunity for designs!
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PRO
Flo Mangan
4 years ago
In the picture of the Curvelinear from West Elm notice height of large art over sofa. Probably only 4”. ;)
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
IMO good overall lighting is all you need I collect art and have not found the need for art lighting with good overall lighting both ceiling floor lamps and table lamps . I agree the piece above the sofa needs to be hung lower . Get good LED lighting in the 4000K range so the colors look the same at night as in the daytime.
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
ok let me really help you with this.

use 4'' recessed low voltage cans. that take mr16 bulbs. these bulbs come in beam spreads from 10 degrees to 60 degrees. Use what I call a flop, rather than an eye ball, the flop can be more precisely angled at what it is lighting as . for the larger piece that is long you will want 2 cans to focus on that with two bulbs at tighter angles. the light will naturally spread as it gets further away from the source so this is why trying a couple beam spreads will help determine what works bes.

https://noralighting.com/product/nl-470/

You do not want to over light, so sometimes this is trial and error with the bulbs.

Now if for some reason you can not do recessed we are into using a rail system from tech lighting, with the same bulb i am talking about. Or if you want more options for the lighting. These use the same bulbs and can be moved around on the rail to get optimal placement. Also you can put the rail as far or close to the wall as you like since it has a remote power source.

http://www.techlighting.com/Gallery
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
Halogen lighting is not the answer as creating hot spots any where near art is never good but those MR16 can be replaced with LEDs in 4000K range no heat and also cheaper to run we have now changed out all our halogen lighting for LEDs simpla as buying new bulbs bonus we have lowered our electrical bill considerably. I do like light rials if you tend to change your art often but IMO usually large pieces have a permanent home
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
4 years ago
Mr 16 wont give hot spots when lamped correctly. They are also uv filtered. Im all for LED if they have a variety of beam spreads, and the correct color temp. either way the fixtures them selves remain the same option wise, the lamping is always the tricky part. halogen does produce heat absolutely. You can also buy filters that will lessen the hot spot effect if it does happen.
indierhythm
Original Author
4 years ago
Hi all - I appreciate you taking the time here... I didn't include a lot of other info because my questions really just pertain to best distance from the wall to put the recessed lights given my options are limited and they can't go in the ideal location. I'm inclined to go further away and just use a much more focused beam spread... and for the tall doors I may try to go very close such as 12" and hope that allows enough light to flow down and not so much out... Thanks for the comment about the art over the sofa... I agree it needs to be closer... I really don't like a ton of lighting in a room which is why I'm doing my lighting this way.... I love using lights on art to be a primary light source. I know this is all personal preference. I am using 4" recessed lights that angle, 2700 K color because that is also a strong preference, and will use bulbs that spread between 10-60 degrees..

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